Handling Notes – Avro Lancastrian II
The
aircraft is fitted out in the 9 passenger mode, with 2 Auxiliary Fuel Tanks
holding 605 US Gals each. The
Lancastrian also has 3 wing tanks per side, numbered Port 3, Port 2 and Port 1;
starboard tanks are numbered similarly.
Only the No 1 and 2 tanks feed the engines. Fuel is transferred from the Aux and No 3
Tanks by means of tank selector cocks and transfer pumps operated by the Flight
Engineer. Fuel capacities have been increased to take account of the smaller US
Gallon and in the simulator the fuel weight with full tanks is correct for a
Lancastrian II.
These notes have been adapted from AP4154A & B Pilot’s Notes, to
suit the requirements of FS9
Check list before take off
Fuel
Management
Immediately
on boarding the aircraft, and before starting the engines the Flight Engineer
must switch the tank selector cocks from the OFF to No.1 tanks. Pilots must
read the notes on in flight fuel control at the end of this section. Failure to
observe the Fuel Management Procedures may make trimming for cruise difficult;
particularly when using the Auto Control Attitude System.
Trim: apply
2.0 of positive (Nose Up) trim.
Air intake:
Cold (Radiator Shutters) – not yet available
Prop speed:
Fully forward (Ctrl F3 – set to full when a/c loads)
Fuel:
Engine fuel cocks ON, tank selectors to No 1, cross feed cock OFF (not on your
version)
Flaps: 20
degrees DOWN
Take Off
and Initial Climb
Take off is
quite tricky, and requires care and experience. Captains must ensure that
Co-pilots are given every opportunity to practice this procedure.
(i)
Open the throttles to
about zero boost against the brakes to see that
engines are responding evenly. Throttle back, release brakes, and open
throttles gently to 14.1” of boost with prop rpm’s at 3000 (fully up); checking
the tendency to swing to port by advancing the port throttles slightly
ahead. This will give as good a take off as taking off against the
brakes, and renders it easier to correct the swing.
(ii) You will find it much easier to use
the throttle control on your stick and Ctrl F2/Ctrl F3 for rpm. The prop
rpm can be adjusted using the mouse wheel. Roll the wheel back towards you for
rpm reduction and forwards for increased rpm; the mouse wheel control area is
directly over the rightmost prop lever. To achieve cruising speed trim it
may be necessary to use the finer control afforded by the Ctrl F2/F3 keys since
the mouse wheel method is a little coarse.
(iii)
Suggest
you do your first few take offs from an outside (side on view). This is
the procedure. Hands on your stick, at around 50 mph IAS, gently ease the
stick forward, the tail will come up; when the tail is parallel to the ground
apply gentle pressure and hold her at around 2/3 degrees pitch. At
approximately 115 mph IAS ease the stick gently back with a smooth, continuous
movement so as to lift her off at 120 mph IAS. On leaving the ground, the
aircraft will tend to pitch up; you should endeavour to keep the pitch below 10
degrees. Bring the undercarriage up and Very
Carefully ease the stick forward, maintaining a
pitch angle of 3 to 4 degrees (this will improve acceleration to Flaps Up
safety speed of 165 mph). When airspeed is at least 150 mph bring the flaps up
by 1 position. At this stage, begin reducing the trim in steps until you have
just 1 degree of nose up trim, at the same time, the stick should be gradually
moved forwards to the neutral position. Note, that 1 degree of nose up trim is
the requirement for the standard (with pax)
recommended climb speed of 175 mph IAS. Information on settings for climb
rates/speeds is given in the next paragraph.
Main Climb
There are three climb settings.
Standard recommended climb with passengers. Boost 7”, rpm at 2650. To achieve
the climb speed of 175 mph IAS the trim requirement is initially first click of
1.0 degrees nose up; reducing to the second click of 0.9 when the speed drops
to 174 mph at approximately 6,200 feet. Yields an average climb of 200 ft/min
Maximum range climb. Boost 7”, rpm 2650. Climb speed of
160 mph. Trim setting is 2.1 degrees 1st click and gives a climb of
310 ft/min.
Maximum performance climb. Boost 9”, rpm 2850. Climb speed
155 mph and a trim requirement of 2.6 degrees 1st click. Climb rate
of 584 ft/min.
Above 7500 feet further small trim reductions
will be required.
Maintain a shallow climb, and when airspeed has
reach 150 mph bring the flaps up 1 position, let the speed continue to build
until 165mph is attained and then bring the flaps fully up. Adjust trim, boost
and rpm for the desired climb speed. Note the requirement to be at 9” boost,
2850 rpm or less at 1500 feet.
Cruise
Cruising speed will vary according to weight;
see the chart below. The aircraft is equipped with an electro-pneumatic auto
controls system. Pilots may choose to transition from the climb manually or by
activating the Attitude Control system. (Auto Pilot Pop-up).
(i)
Set
boost to 7” and rpm a little above the suggested figure until the desired
cruising speed is reached. For example: with a gross aircraft weight of 63750
lbs the cruising speed should be 189 mph IAS. Set the rpm to 2043 and reduce to
1975 rpm when this speed is achieved.
(ii)
Lancastrians
did not have an Altitude Hold device in the autopilot system; but we have left
one in for those who want an easy flight. Atl Hold
button is just below the Auto Controls master cock on the left of the pop up.
When you click the Alt Hold it automatically activates the Auto Controls (the
lever will swing to the right). To go from Alt Hold to Attitude Control, first
turn off Alt Hold (Auto Controls lever swings back left). Now click on the hand
side of Auto Control lever and it will swing right and activate the system.
(iii)
To
use the Attitude Control system, Auto Control switch must be activated. Hover
the mouse over the gauge to the right of Auto Control lever and it will display
the current pitch setting. With mouse to the left of this gauge a minus symbol
displays; clicking on the minus reduces the pitch setting. To the right, a plus
is shown and increases the pitch. Example, to set zero pitch hover on the left
side and click once; move the mouse away and then back to see the readout for
pitch. If necessary, click the minus again until you have zero pitch. Trim will
be adjusted automatically to maintain the pitch setting.
Flying the Cruise
Typical
cruising height (with passengers is 7500 ASL).
The columns below show gross wt and ideal speed for maximum range
cruising. The first two columns are
taken directly from the Pilot’s Notes, while the remaining columns are the
suggested change points in FS9. Using these figures it is possible to remain
within 50’ plus or minus of your desired altitude. These intermediate
adjustments give your passengers a much smoother ride.
The right
hand columns assume a climb to 7500 feet using 175mph climb speed at 2650 rpm.
Alternative climb rates and altitudes will produce a different weight at the
top of climb. The figures below were achieved using ‘Attitude Control’.
Lancastrian pilots used a chart to calculate gross aircraft weight, due to
differences in US and Imperial Gallon we are unable to do this. We can ,however, get this data from the ‘Aircraft’, ‘Fuel’ tab
in the FS9 menu. Or, more realistically, dig out that old slide rule, check the
fuel gauges, calculate the weight of fuel used (6 lbs per US Gal) and deduct
from our take off weight. Should keep you busy on a long trip!
Gross Wt (lbs) Speed %Fuel
Left Wt Speed Approx
MPH
IAS IAS RPM
68000 195 94 63750 189
mph 1975
66000 192 93 63400 188 1970
64000 189 91 63000 188 1965
62000 186 90 62750 187 1960
60000 182 88 62400 187 1955
58000 180 86 62000 186 1950
56000 177 86 61750 186 1945
54000 175 84 61500 185 1940
52000 174 82 61050 185 1936
50000 172 81 60800 184 1930
48000 171 80 60400 184 1926
79 60200 183 1920
77 59750 183 1916
76 59600 182 1911
74 59050 182 1906
73 58800 181 1901
71 58500 181 1896
70 58200 180 1892
68 57900 189 1887
67 57550 179 1882
66 57234 179 1877
64 56900 178 1872
63 56600 178 1867
61 56300 177 1862
60 56000 177 1857
Below 56000 lbs the correlation
between simulator and Pilots Notes falls away, and is therefore not included.
When I have a better solution I will issue a fix (Paul E).
Engine
Limits
Take Off
and Max Boost 14.1” at 3000 rpm up to 1500 feet altitude, with a 5 minutes time
limit. Use this setting for take off when aircraft gross weight is below 65100
lbs. An 18” boost setting is available for weights of 65100 to 68000 lbs.
Max Climb
Boost 9” at 2850 rpm with 1 hour continuous limit
Max
continuous boost 7” at 2650 rpm
Engine
Failure – Feathering.
Hold the feathering button in until the red light below the button goes
out. Turn off the fuel cock for the affected engine, then
switch off the appropriate magneto set.
Range
For an
aircraft with full tanks and weight (65,000); using the max range settings,
range for the climb and cruise will be approx 3700 nautical miles flying at
10000 feet. This can be increased a little by flying between 6 and 8000 feet.
Fuel
Control
Start the
flight on Nos. 1 tanks; when the contents of the No 1 tanks has fallen to 392
gallons switch to the No. 2 tanks and begin transferring fuel from the Aux 1
centre wing tank to the No. 1 tanks. Monitor the gauges carefully as the
transfer pump cut off can sometimes fail, resulting in fuel loss as the No 1
tanks overfill. When the No 1 tanks are full (696
Approach
and Landing
These notes
have been taken from the original Pilot’s Notes. I do not have the skills in FS
to check them out; so users should view them as a guide rather than a rule.
Check
List before landing
Reduce
speed to below 200 mph if necessary, and set flaps to 20 degrees.
Preliminary
stages of the approach should be carried out at 145 – 150 mph IAS with rpm at
2650.
Undercarriage
down, prop rpm controls fully forward; flaps to full down on final approach.
Reducing speed so as to cross the airfield boundary at 115 mph
Beam
Approach
|
Preliminary Approach |
Inner Marker On QDR |
Outer Marker On QDR |
Outer
Marker On QDM |
Inner Marker On QDM |
Indicated height Feet |
1500 |
1500 |
800 |
|
150 |
Action |
Lower
flap 20 |
- - - |
U/C Down |
Flaps to
40 |
Full Flaps |
Resultant change Of trim |
Nose Up |
- - - |
Slight nose down |
Nose Up |
Slight Nose Up |
IAS MPH |
160 mph |
160 |
160 |
138 |
126 |
RPM |
2650 |
2650 |
2650 |
2850 |
2850 |
Boost PSI level Flight |
+3 |
+3 |
+6 |
+7 |
Throttle |
Boost PSI (-500 ft/min) |
-1 |
-1 |
+3 |
+2 |
Back |
Boost Overshoot |
|
|
|
|
Slowly |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Remarks Use
all 4 throttles together to regulate rate of descent
Overshoot:
Open throttles fully and rpm to max. Maintain airspeed at 138 mph. Raise
undercarriage and at 100 raise flaps to 30 down. Increase speed to 160 mph IAS
and raise flaps fully.